The Dillon tribune., 1887-10-14
were he again to cone ho,,o ,,.:.

eish hours, she would 90 in. Int lon,
al'erwaia, when imagined her at rest
Acould hear some ono coughing On ~.
other side OF the partition, Poor ,',fon ;.s
tunate woman! She was still t,,crc to'.
tured by anxiety, straining hcr cvc. =,
penetrate the gloom, and seeing notl.,o
save her own distress. ''''s
ohe O'Clock. o'clock, cfte, ,,,er
voice might be Heard singin, at tho c;,2 i,
wy street. Arthur was rctcrnirt -
any 'onle coii-rahc walked Wit! i;1a :s /,
as the door: Come on, come on n.y.,
c.ul' c.',, mere ne would loiter, for, KNOWN :
4n 4.ll weu What awaited him beyond IT,,
.'.esnolo ne lett too ccwardly to knock.
AS ne mounted the stairs the stiffness of
the house lent an emphasis to h;s hon,.,.
tread, and made him experience somath;,,so.
akin to rcmorsc. lie would talk olo,-i
10 himself, pausing on each wretchod
landing. ''>>o'e''
Good evening, Nine. Weber: GOOD ova.
nlns, Nine. Matthew" and if the sa,nta.
ions tailed to elicit any response. n storm,
OF curses followed until every door and
WlnooW opened; and his own profanity
would oe returned with interest.
- ms was precisely what he wanted
Nnen ne had been drinking, nothing
pleased him better than brawls, for. tins
iortlned by anger, he could wear a bolder
face as he knocked at his own door.
| This homecoming was terrible,
"Openl let me in.''
linen could hear the wonlall's; bare feet
crossing the floor, the striking of matches
ana the man. even as he stumbled in. try
ing TO staH,ner an excuse-always tho
same, however: bad company, foolish i'm
pulses. Ah the story is IN old one-old
as the hills, and the woman never paid
attention to it,
''Tho money!"
~ have no ,nore,' Arthur's voice re-
Piled
"You lie" So he did, in fact. for in
the midst of his carousing he always
managed to keep q few sous, looking for
ward to Monday when his thirst must
again be satisfied, and it was for this
small balance of his wages that his wife
easily.
"Since tell you," he exclaimed. "that
! have spent it all OIL drink Without
answering a word, she would angrily
catch hold of him, and with her whole
strength shake him, search through his
clothes and empty his pockets. In the
course OF . few minutes l could hear
money roll upon the ground, the woman
seizing it with cry of triumph.
''Oh! was right, you seel'' Then an
oath, heavy blows: the drunkard was
taking his revenge. After once giving
vent to his passion nothing could arrest its
flood. All that is evil or destructive in
the vile liquor sold at low drinking shops
rose to his brain, seeking an outlet for it's
wild frenzy. The wife screan1ed; the
children, rudely startled from their sleep,
began to cry, and the very furniture Of
the miserable hovel seemed to echo these
dismal, heartrending sounds. The win
dow would be thrown open in the alley,
and some could be heard explaining:
ut is Arthur, only Arthur!' Occa-
sionally the father-in-law, IN old rag
picker living in the next house, would
run to his daughters assistance; but Ar
thur, fearing interruption, always took
the precaution of locking the door. Then
the father and his son-in-law revolving
dialogue full of horrible details:
''Ah, robberr' the old man would cry,
.'were your two years in Jail not enough |
for your and the drunken wretch loudly
answering:
''Yes, for two years I was in prison;
what of that? l at least have paid my
debt to the world. Why do you not do
the same:''
It was Arthur's habit to regard the
matter in this light: He had stolen, he
had served out his time for the theft, so
he and society were once more upon
an equal footing. But it was hard
to convert the ragpicker to this view. SO
that when the latter persisted in his
taunts Arthur would become more furi-
GUS and, rushing out, would fall upon
father-in-law, mother-in-law, neighbors,
beating them one a1d all like So many
puppets.
However, he was not q bad fellow at
heart. Very often on Sunday, after |
one Of these frequent exhibitions of
cruelty, his thirst subdued and his pock-
cts empty, he would pass the day at
home. Nine. Weber, Nine. Matthew and |
their neighhors would carry their chairs
out upon the balcony, and there they
would sit and gossip. On these occasions
it was Arthur who was the wit and at
traction of the party. You might almost
have fancied him to be one of those model
workingmen who spend their evenings in
lecture halls. He would speak in u sweet
and well modulated tone, and, rrotiting
by current ideas, would advocate the
rights Of labor and denounce the tyranny
of capital. His wife, weak from the
blows of the preceding night, would
glance at him with evident admiration,
nor was she alone in this. ''What if dear
Arthur did amuse Limself?' sighed Nine.
Weber.
Then the women would urge him to
sing, and he, amiably consenting, would
give them something of Beranger's. Oh!
Wat sonorous voice, full of affected
pathos and vibrating with the senseiess
of his class.
Beyond the molly, lar painted platform,